Friday!

Check out the flashback! It's from our Brazil International Dinner. If you've never tried fechuada (a Brazilian meat and bean stew), you definitely should! It's fantastic.















That is no ordinary white rice - it has sauteed garlic in it. It's a subtle, but important, flavor difference. Delicious!















The farofa is a great addition to the fechuada - it's toasted manioc flour that we cooked with bacon and scallions. You'll need to go to a Brazilian market for some of these ingredients!















The cup of tea we had to cap off the evening.

If anyone wants any of these recipes, please let me know! They're hiding in the shag carpet room at the mo', but I'll take any excuse to go wage a little battle on that space!

Markus' 9 Month Check-Up

On Saturday we went to the pediatrician for Markus' 9 month check up. No shots for the little guy this time, so it was an easy morning. He weighs 28lbs, 14 oz. (we were actually surprised it was under 30) and he is 29 and 3/4 inches tall. Not surprisingly, that is the 99th and 90-97th percentile for those categories.

We were concerned that he wasn't necessarily crawling (he's doing the army style crawl with his upper body -- see video a few posts back), but the doctor told us that many babies don't crawl and since he's pulling himself up that he is already past the crawling milestone, so that doesn't make sense according to traditional theory. We're also good with his food and other milestones.

We mentioned that Markus cries when he sees a new person with facial hair, most notably a goatee, and the doctor said that this is pretty common for children this age. So, no hard feelings Eddie and Mike D.! Glasses can also cause this, but since Sandra and I wear glasses at home, I think Markus is used to that change. In fact, he loves reaching for them/licking them (lol) despite our "No!" warnings.

Well, that's it for the check up. He's healthy and happy, just the way we like him!

It's Flash! It's Back! It's FRIDAY!

Hello again, loyal blog followers (all...how many of you are there?!)...

This was another fantastic week in Frydam-Cranford Land. This week, we took Markus to the zoo for the first time! We also bought him a cool new lightweight stroller to zip him around places like the zoo more easily than in his heavier stroller. Behold, Markus at the Bronx Zoo:














I think there are flamingos in the background.















Yep. There certainly are!















Markus loves his new stroller - and his new friend James the Giraffe, which is his souvenir from the zoo!

And now, for today's Flashback!














This was taken in Barbados, the last stop on the Caribbean cruise Raph and I took in 2003. I seem to remember more photos from this day, but alas, they were on my NON-digital camera, meaning the prints are floating around somewhere in the shag carpet room. If I ever find them, I promise to scan a few good ones.

Flashback Friday!

Here we go again. We've had a good week! On Tuesday and Wednesday, I threw a Harry Potter movie viewing party for my sisters. They came over and we watched all the HP movies over 2 days. We made a British dinner on Tuesday night - chicken and ham pie. It was delicious! It's literally chunks of chicken and strips of ham in a sauce made with leeks and onions, with a pastry crust over top. We actually doubled the seasoning the recipe called for, and served it with mashed potatoes and steam vegetables. Have a look:





























My whole family is on their way to DR as I type. I am so jealous - this trip was my idea! I had wanted to go with the whole family, and bring Markus too. Poor baby hasn't been to a beach all summer. And by "poor baby" I mean ME! *whine*

Today's Flashback Friday picture is from May 2007. It was our 2-year anniversary, and we had taken so many trips in 2006 that we decided to do the original "staycation." This was well before it was fashionable! We did NY touristy things such as the Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We had a delicious lunch at a restaurant whose name I wish I remembered because it was excellent, and we walked through Central Park. We had a bit of setback in that I'd sprained my ankle on the Friday night before our fun weekend, so we had to take it slow walking through the museums. I was unable to wear even slight heels for months after that sprain! Oy, getting older every minute, aren't we?

From the Met: the view from a balcony.












From the Hall of Human Origins, which had just been opened at the Museum of Natural History.














At Central Park. Oh, look, I'm wearing my Ray-Ban sunglasses that were stolen later that summer from my desk at work!

















Raph and I are such nerds...we always spring for the headsets!

Markus reaches 9 months!

Today is Markus' 9 month birthday.

By the way, do you prefer "Markus'" or "Markus's"?

Anyway, Markus is doing great and decided to show us a new trick today for his 9 month birthday:



He started crawling! Well, it's not the smoothest of crawls (it's more like pulling himself forward with his arms), but it's a forward motion with a specific purpose. According to other people with children, this is the beginning of the end! We are planning on going shopping to baby-proof the house asap. Markus loves to try to lift himself up and now that he's more mobile, he'll be everywhere he's not supposed to be in no time!

He's also been sitting up by himself for a little while now. Here's a video of him sitting up by himself and then focusing himself on the DVD player!



In other news, I've been working on fixing up the other bedroom/office. It's taking quite a long time and I'll post up pictures and the story soon.

Hope you enjoy the videos of the little guy!

Return of the Genuine Flashback Friday!

I'm home, fresh from my jaunt to the Dunkin Donuts about a mile away, where I took Markus for breakfast. Not his breakfast - my breakfast! I had a ham and swiss flatbread sandwish and an iced mocha latte, for all those curious readers out there.

See a picture of my very cool son. Markus is wearing his mama's shades for a moment, striking a cool pose, while I was watering my flowering plant in the backyard. Ah, suburban domestic bliss! That plant, incidentally, has 9 lives...this is the second time it's died but has gone on to sprout more flowers. Let's see how many more times I can make it do that before winter.

And now for the much anticipated Friday edition of Flashback Friday!
























This photo was taken in August, 2003 at Madame Toussoud's Wax Museum in NY. Raph and I went there to meet an internet friend of mine (with whom I've since lost touch, sadly). We had a great time, and I got to stand face to face with BON JOVI. Love him! Although seriously, not sure I could hang with a guy whose hips are that much smaller than mine...






Raph with wax!Patrick Stewart, well before our Star Trek fanaticism began.












Here's a bonus picture: this is me and Ericka at the Bon Jovi concert exactly 6 years ago today! August 7, 2003, at Giants Stadium. GREAT SHOW. It poured heavy rain on us the whole time (Raph and I were sitting on the field) and I just stood up on my chair and sang my heart out. Good times!

Flashback Friday Make-up (Thurs)

fThis will be the final Flashback Friday make-up post. Tomorrow you'll have your regularly scheduled Flashback Friday, and hopefully I won't need to spend another week making up my lapses in future!

Before we get to today's pictures, I want to take a moment to make a quick Markus Report. On July 26, we noticed that Markus had cut two new teeth - the two top ones! I've been waiting for these to come out, as his fussiness during the day couldn't be attributed to anything but the discomfort of teething but for weeks there were no new teeth to show for it. The second awesome Markus Report point is that he's started to sit himself up! He's able to, from lying face-down on the floor, push himself up to a sitting position. It's adorable! He's also been getting around the floor quite well, not by crawling, but by dragging himself along on his belly using his arms. We've been practicing standing quite a bit, to keep strengthening his legs in preparation to walk, but he hasn't been able to stand flat on his feet yet - he just keeps his little toes pointed!

BTW, babyproofing has got to begin in this house. Markus really is getting quite mobile, which means nothing is safe from him trying to pull himself up to standing on it! His favorite is the coffee table, but he's tried the TV table and the bookcase as well. Oh, and if I'm standing near enough, pulling on my pants leg is inevitable. ;)

Today's picture is from the Caribbean cruise Raph and I took in March 2003. We flew to Puerto Rico and then took off for St. Thomas, Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, and St. Maarten. It was so much fun and it cemented our love for cruises - we also did a cruise for our honeymoon two years later. Can't wait for our next one!

Flashback Friday Make-up (Wed)

Today's Flashback Friday Make-up comes to you from one of our favorite activities: our International Dinners! We take turns with two other couples, Diane & Eddie and Adam & Ericka, to throw dinner parties with an international menu. We pick the country out of a hat after everyone has had a chance to make his/her vote. Then one couple hosts and does the main course (which often includes a signature drink) and the other couples make either an appetizer/first course and side dish or a dessert. We make sure to have plenty of the regional wine, as well as the local music for the country whose cuisine we are celebrating. We always try to remember to bring a printout of the recipes we made so that we can create them at home if we wish.



















This photo is from our very first International Dinner, South Africa! Raph and I hosted, so I made the main dish, bobotie. It's made with ground beef and plenty of spices such as turmeric, curry powder, and cloves. It's delicious and I've made it many more times (the most recently just last month - unless you count tonight! I have the meat defrosting as I type).















Food, friends, and fun!

Flashback Friday Make-up (Tues)

Today's Flashback Make-up comes from Paris, France. Raph and I spent a week there with my sisters before jetting to Madrid to meet my parents. I can't believe it was 2 years ago this month! I still want to go back and do all the things we didn't get to do on that first trip - including eat a lot more French food!















Holidaymakers outside the Louvre, with the glass pyramid in the background.
















The weather in France in August that year was pretty crappy. It was cold every day, temps in the 60s, and we had our fair share of rain as well. What better day to spend in the illustrious Louvre than our first rainy day?
















On the Bateaux Parisiens cruise on the Seine River. This was so much fun! It was a great way to take a tour and have a French meal.















The view from our hotel room. It's the Pantheon, which we literally walked by on our way to and from our various destinations, never realizing how amazing it was on the inside until the last day.















See what I mean? Some famous Frenchmen are entombed here. It gave me the total willies to be in the tombs beneath the place, and I skipped as many as I could.




















There is nothing like the Eiffel Tower at night. It's exquisite to behold. The crowd that gathers to watch it light up gasps simultaneously and the moment holds a certain magic that calls to mind Christmas morning when you still believe in Santa Claus.




















Really, she's beautiful at any time of day - and in any weather. Oh, look at that! It's a couple in love, kissing in front of the Eiffel Tower in the most romantic city in the world! ;)















The majestic Notre Dame. On yet another rainy day.















Three sisters at the Gardens of Versailles.















The unbelievable Sacre Couer. The church forbade picture-taking inside, but it was so stunning and meaningful, it brought tears to my eyes. It took a heck of a long time, and climbing what seemed like hundreds of steps to get there. Not the best parts of town you need to pass, either - but well worth the effort.




















Holding a baguette in the Jardin de Luxembourg, just a couple of hours before heading to the airport. It almost makes me not want to eat bread in America, how delicious the bread was in France. I'd fly back there just for the baguettes!

Flashback Friday: A Flash in the Pan?

I assure you, Flashback Friday will be back! In response to the many inquiries I've received regarding the lack of Flashback Friday posts (most of them from the same person and you know who you are!), please enjoy the first of 4 daily Flashback Friday make-up posts. Every day this week I will do a picture post using the same rules as Flashback Fridays.

Thanks for your patience!

















Here we are in May 2005, during our honeymoon. We're at a vineyard in Malta, from which we bought a delicious bottle of Isis Chardonnay. Ahh, I'd love to have some of that again!